Languages

Learn to read Biblical Hebrew

Biblical Hebrew is the language of most of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. Its sentences are often short and its vocabulary repeats, which makes it kinder to beginners than its unfamiliar script suggests.

Start reading Biblical Hebrew
No account needed. Your first line takes about three minutes.

What Biblical Hebrew is like

Hebrew is written from right to left, and the alphabet has 22 consonants. The dots and dashes around the letters show the vowels, and they were added centuries after the text was first written, to preserve how it was read aloud.

Many words are built on a root of three consonants, so once you know a few roots, you start recognising their relatives. Small words such as “and”, “the” and “in” attach to the front of the next word, which is the main thing that makes a line look harder than it is.

How Urling teaches it

• You start with a real line from a real text, in your first few minutes.
• Each lesson teaches the words that unlock more of a text you want to read.
• Short exercises rebuild real sentences, and words you miss come back later.
• Grammar comes as short notes when you meet it, not as a wall of tables first.

Famous texts to start with

• Psalm 23 in HebrewPsalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd”, in the original Hebrew, line by line, with an English translation, word-by-word glosses and notes for beginners.
• The Shema in HebrewThe Shema, Hear O Israel, from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 in the original Hebrew, with an English translation, word-by-word glosses and notes for beginners.
• Genesis 1 in Hebrew: “In the beginning”The creation story of Genesis 1 in the original Hebrew, line by line, with an English translation, word-by-word glosses and notes for beginners.
• The Ten Commandments in HebrewThe Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 in the original Hebrew, line by line, with an English translation, word-by-word glosses and notes for beginners.
• The Priestly Blessing in HebrewThe Priestly Blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep you”, from Numbers 6:24-26 in the original Hebrew, with translation, word-by-word glosses and notes.
• Psalm 121 in HebrewPsalm 121, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills”, in the original Hebrew, line by line, with an English translation, word-by-word glosses and notes.
• The Book of Jonah in HebrewThe whole Book of Jonah in the original Hebrew, line by line, with an English translation, word-by-word glosses and notes. A complete biblical book for beginners.

New to the grammar? Read the short guide to Biblical Hebrew grammar.

The letters

Urling has a short script course that teaches the letters and vowel signs before you need them, one sign at a time.

Also in the course

The course has 27 texts in all, including:

• Psalm 1
• Psalm 8
• The binding of Isaac (Genesis 22)
• The Garden of Eden (Genesis 2–3)
• Sennacherib invades Judah (2 Kings 18)
• The burning bush (Exodus 3)
• Psalm 137
• Book of Ruth
• The Flood (Genesis 6–8)
• Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 37)
• Crossing the Sea (Exodus 14)
• Psalm 19

Start reading Biblical Hebrew
No account needed. Your first line takes about three minutes.